<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>coming to terms by galexyzalex</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26284909">coming to terms</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/galexyzalex/pseuds/galexyzalex'>galexyzalex</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Malcolm in the Middle</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Coming Out, Late Night Conversations, No Incest, Self-Acceptance, Sexuality Crisis, Sharing a Bed, Sibling Bonding, Sibling Love</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 07:21:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,563</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26284909</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/galexyzalex/pseuds/galexyzalex</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Malcolm always knew he had always been different. Though, it wasn’t a matter of being smarter than his family, or having a…smaller body figure then the other boys his age. No…it was a personal thing. A personal thing, which happened to be the way he felt around other boys. </p><p>OR </p><p>Malcolm talked to his brother-Reese-about his newly developed feelings. (this is not incest)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Malcolm/Reese (Malcolm in the Middle)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>35</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>coming to terms</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>if names you don't recognise come up, it's because I added them to the story :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Malcolm couldn't sleep. </p><p>Not only was his dumbass brother-Dewey-almost on top of him and snoring like a whale, thoughts were continuing to run through his mind non-stop. And as you would expect from a fourteen year old boy, they weren't exactly...well, they weren't the kind of thoughts appropriate to be having with your brother squished against you, to say at the least. Putting that aside, though, the thoughts weren't ideal either. </p><p>What teenager would want to be questioning their sexuality instead of sleeping? Panicking at the possible outcomes received from his peers. From his family...and in all honesty, Malcolm was more scared of the response rather than the questioning itself. So what if he were gay? It seemed easy enough to sweep under the rug and ignore, so he would do that. That being, if he actually was gay, of course. Since he hadn't the slightest idea now-results of not having any experience with girls (or boys, for that matter,) Malcolm didn't know how he could...explore his 3am desires, if you will. And it wasn't like he could ask one of his brothers, his parents or his best friend-Stevie. That was just wrong. Not only would they have to be involved in his experimenting phase, but if his sexuality ended up being straight, his family would never let it down. </p><p>And yeah, it sucked that straight was seen as 'default.' That was what made it so hard. Although lgbt+ weren't uncommon to come across, Malcolm never met anyone apart of that community. Or at least not that he knew of. Nonetheless, it was a scary subject and the idea of having to experiment or discover himself more to find out the initial question; almost made Malcolm piss himself. </p><p>So, he got up from his rather uncomfortable bed and quietly stumbled to the bathroom. Though, he didn't end up using the toilet as one would expect. No, instead, Malcolm locked the door-a infrequent gesture to be done-and sat on top of the toilet once the lid was placed down. He sighed, allowing his head to fall into his hands. </p><p>"Fuck..." Malcolm muttered into his hands. Since, well, they were the only thing offering any sort of moral support. And it felt oddly comforting, having a second alone and being seconds away from tears, knowing he wouldn't be disturbed. </p><p>Or so he thought. Seemingly on cue, the door knob tried to be opened, followed by a few quiet knocks. When the person outside the door received little to no answer, they began wiggling the knob again, a minuet later pushing the door open and standing shocked. </p><p>"Uh...hi?" Reese says quietly, itching his neck awkwardly, presumably expecting for the room to be empty. "Why was the door locked? Were you..."</p><p>"No! No...I, uh..." Malcolm knew the dirty thoughts almost frequenting on Reese's mind, but this time, he pushed It away rather than giving his older brother shit for it. Another rare gesture in the family; Malcolm was on a roll tonight. </p><p>"Are...dude...you...are you..." Knowing Reese was awful with words-especially comforting words-Malcolm shook his head. </p><p>"Reese, I'm really confused..."</p><p>This conversation could go anywhere. Malcolm knew that, he knew the risks of his brother giving him shit for god knows how long, or the way he'll be nagging Malcolm. But it felt right, almost necessary for this to be shared between the two. </p><p>"Why are you confused? Aren't you the genius?" Reese snickered, closing the door behind him and sitting on the edge of their bathtub. "Can i...like, piss or-"</p><p>"-This is important." Malcolm cut his brother off, having no patience to deal with anything-his mood changing in a matter of seconds-suddenly, becoming extremely serious. He was going to do this for real. And it would be okay, he would get a good response rather than a punch in the arm. </p><p>Sitting upright, Reese nodded nervously. "Well...can we go back to the room? I feel like you're about to blow me or-"</p><p>"-You're disgusting!" Malcolm shot out, pretending to gag and he retreated from the bathroom, trying his hardest to quietly walk back to the bedroom, which was hard considering Reese was jumping on his back-or trying too. </p><p>Once safely entered the bedroom, Malcolm slowly closed the door as Reese jumped into his bed, earning a loud squeak from the assumed broken springs in his bed. </p><p>"I think my bed is broken." Reese remarked quietly, sounding genuinely confused. Or maybe he was upset, who knew at this point. Reese Wilkerson is too hard to read. </p><p>"No wonder..." Malcolm joked back, he tip toed towards his bed, before stopping in the middle of the room and looking back and forth from his asleep brother-Dewey-to his awake brother-Reese. "Can I..."</p><p>"Can you what?" Continuing to be a clueless dumbass, Reese wasn't able to cut his brother from the embarrassment and urged on his question. "What do you want? Are you going to tell me what's up or not?"</p><p>Malcolm almost slapped Reese. Wanting to slap the ignorance out of him. But times like this, when he wanted a good and supportive response; Malcolm had to bite back his snarls and desperate attempts of abuse, instead, clenching his jaw and climbing into Reese's bed. Pushing him over and ending face-to-face with his brother. </p><p>"You...hi?" Reese dumbfoundedly whispers, trying to read his brother's facial expression, but failing due to his lack of knowledge and the lack of light, since, after all it was halfway through the night. "What are you, uh...doing?" </p><p>"Reese, you have to promise me something, ok?" Malcolm asks seriously, closing his eyes as if that would cut him some slack. And expectedly, it made little to no difference. He still felt uncomfortable, and odd. But in a good way; if that was even possible. </p><p>"Ok..." </p><p>"You can't tell anyone what I'm about to say...or laugh at me because...this is like, really serious. I mean, I don't even one hundred percent know if it's true of official but for the most part I think-"</p><p>Reese slaps his brother's head lights, "-Spit it out, Malcolm! I'm tired. And yes, I promise, but hurry the fuck up." It came out as a childish groan, but hey, it's Reese. A bitchy, petty, annoying-but kind and willing to do anything for the people he loves, type of guy. </p><p>"Sorry...ok...i...dude, I think I'm not...girls..." Malcolm tried saying it straightforward-although, their was nothing straight about it-and even so, he failed. It came out slow and spaced. He didn't explain it, nor say what he truely meant. In fact, it sounded like he told his brother he was actually a girl, rather than his change of sexual orientation. </p><p>Occasionally Reese understood things. Like, big things. And to Malcolm's high hopes; he wished this would be one of those cases. So, Malcolm refrained himself and stayed quiet, having no interest or intent to explain his true meaning. </p><p>"I don't get it...I'm sorry. What does that mean?" Reese was sincere, he also wished he understood what was previously stated, but he simply didn't. "Why are you so panicked? I told you, it's okay..." </p><p>Malcolm chuckled softly, "You don't sound like the Reese I know. Usually you would punch me in the face for making eye contact with you, but I'm literally in your bed." </p><p>Surprisingly, Malcolm received no laughter from the remark he made. And that took him off guard. A sudden feeling of guilt bubbled in his stomach. Guilt of upsetting his brother by the joke, or making him too uncomfortable. </p><p>"Sorry, I didn't mean-" Malcolm started. </p><p>"-I'm trying to be a good guy, Malcolm. You're my brother and I want to...be there for you, I guess...but how can I do that if you won't tell me the actual thing?" Reese had rare outbursts of smart tendencies, this being one of those times. And listing along, Malcolm found no potholes in his brother's intelligence.</p><p>Though, now, it felt even scarier. Malcolm was about to say something that had been confusing and bugging him for months. Something he lost sleep over-and could potentially lose his family over. But he was seconds away from telling his brother, and yeah, he was fucking shitting himself. To make it more awkward, Malcolm hadn't the slighted idea what to say, or how to start it. I mean, Malcolm wasn't sure what he were to do if Reese asked why he was the first to know. Was it weird that he had been first? Or-</p><p>"-Malcolm! Stop overthinking and tell me! I know the face you pull when you get all anxious and whatnot, and it's dark in here but I can see you're doing that face!" Reese whisper yelled, knowing Dewey could wake up and want to listen in on their conversation. "If you don't spit it out, I'll have no choice then to tell that girl in your class, Masie, that you like her! So, hurry up, because I'll do it!" </p><p>Nodding and breathing out, Malcolm leaned in closer to his brother. Not in a weird way, but for extra reassurance that nobody would be able to hear this discussion. </p><p>"I don't like Masie...I'm...I'm gay, Reese." Malcolm whispered, leaning back quickly afterwards, resulting in him tumbling off the bed and earning a loud-too loud-thud. </p><p>Not even a minuet later, their parents were rushing into the room with groggy eyes-disappointed, though, not surprised at what the loud noise came from. The only real shock was why Malcolm had been in Reese's bed in the first place. </p><p>"One night..." Lois sighed, "We can't have one goddamn night without you boys make a ruckus!" </p><p>With that, Dewey was now awake and crying. The cherry on top of tonight's event. That was sure to set their mum off. </p><p>"I'm sorry, Dewey was kicking Malcolm in his sleep so he tried my bed and I pushed him." Reese lied. It was unnecessary, and untrue. Clueless to why he did this, the family had their small argument before retreating back from where they came. </p><p>Malcolm got off the floor, walked towards his bed and slipped in besides his younger brother. He knew Reese lied for his sake, but he had no idea why. Maybe Reese felt bad for all the gay jokes he previously made, or the way he always mocked Malcolm about girls. Whatever it was, neither boys dared mentioning it and fell asleep. </p><p>-</p><p>Reese was sitting on the couch eating cereal and watching tv when Malcolm awoke. He changed his clothes, freshened up before walking to the kitchen to grab his own breakfast. </p><p>"Good morning, Malcolm. For the second time." Lois remarked, still evidently irritated by the earlier occurrence. Though, her voice had humour to it, as well.</p><p>"Morning..." Malcolm mumbled back. He was suspicious due to his mother eyeing him, but didn't dare mention it, or worse, make eye contact with her. So instead, he poured himself a bowl of whatever cereal had been left on the bench, coated it in sugar, and set himself down on the table after taking a spoon from the drawer. </p><p>The house was quieter than usual. Almost...almost as if everyone knew the secret Malcolm exposed. But...that wasn't possible, right? His words were too quiet, and-</p><p>Fucking goddamn Reese!</p><p>Without a second though, Malcolm leapt from his seat, and found his way to the couch where his brother sat. </p><p>"You're a fucking ass!" Malcolm screamed, ignoring his mother's presence and instead lunging forward to give his brother a well earned punch across the face. </p><p>"What the fuck? What are you talking about?" Reese groaned, holding his jaw in his hand and wincing at the sudden feeling of a bruise forming. "I didn't do shit!"</p><p>"You told everyone I'm gay!"</p><p>If possible, the house went even quieter. Reese met his brother's eye and shook his head, Lois slowly and surely creaked around the corner, Hal peaked in from the backyard and fucking Francis chose that moment to enter the door. </p><p>"No. I didn't. I would never." Reese shook his head again, this time it was sad, though. "How could you even think that? I thought we were a team." He pushed past Malcolm and walked straight to their room, slamming it behind them. </p><p>God, how could this day get any worse? Malcolm woke up about fifteen minuets ago, and his entire life had changed. And now his brother-his best friend, even-was utterly horrified by his assumptions. And Reese had every right to be. </p><p>"We...you know it's ok, right?" Lois smiled to her son, it was awkward, but showed enough love and support. "Reese didn't tell us...and for the record; you better say sorry to him! But for now, know...we love you, Malcolm. Always." </p><p>Francis and Hal joined in, echoing 'always' in attempt to make the younger boy crack a smile, which he did. Their family was insane. But now, Malcolm knew they accepted him, and it felt really life good. He felt...almost high. Or what he assumed would be a high feeling.</p><p>And now, there was only one thing left to do. </p><p>-</p><p>"Can I come in?" Malcolm asked, knocking on the door softly. Which, considering it was his room too, seemed very unnecessary and stupid. </p><p>No answer.</p><p>Malcolm sighed, "Please? Reese, I need to talk to you." </p><p>"Get me some frozen peas and I'll consider." Reese replied, presumably standing against the other side of the door due to how loud his response came. </p><p>So, Malcolm, did just that. He grabbed frozen pea's from his freezer, before entering the bed room. This time, not knocking or giving any warning. </p><p>"Thanks..." Reese mumbled once the pea's were tossed towards him, since he moved from the door to his bed in a matter of seconds. </p><p>"What are they for?" Malcolm asked, doing anything to start up a conversation. Even though, he knew exactly.</p><p>"The punch you gave me."</p><p><br/>"Yeah..." Malcolm, sighed, closed the door and sat beside his brother on the bed. "I'm really sorry...nobody was talking, and mum kept eyeing me...I got paranoid. And I know that isn't an excuse, but what I told you-and apparently our entire family now-was...really hard. And I know you don't understand it but...I'm sorry." </p><p>Reese nodded, turning his neck to face his brother and smile sadly. "Malcolm, did you...did you think Winston and I were just friends? He came over every day, stayed most weekends, slept in my bed...just as a friend?" </p><p>Malcolm was speechless. Received and happy, but had no idea what to say. "Oh..."</p><p>"Yeah...so, don't tell me I don't get it, because I do." </p><p>"I...thanks for telling me." Malcolm turned his head, meeting eye contact with his brother and returning the smile. "I really do love you. You're my brother." </p><p>"You're my best friend." Reese remarked, pulling them in for a tight hug. "And fuck you, I'm not a sap. Also, we're like, total homo's now!"</p><p>"Yeah, I guess we are." Malcolm laughed. And it was a genuine laugh. A true one. Because, for the first time in a long time he felt happy. Like weight had been lifted from his shoulders all because of his brother. </p><p>Reese fucking Wilkerson. Good guy on the inside, total asshat on the out. But hey, who wouldn't love him?</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>